The Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone (WHDZ) -- located in Wuhan city in Central China’s Hubei province -- has marked progress in its economic development with the total output value of industries above a designated scale expected to hit 24.13 billion ($3.41 billion) in May, according to the official WeChat account of the WHDZ.
According to zone officials, that figure will show a year-on-year increase of 3.6 percent.
They said the industrial economy of the zone has achieved positive growth for two consecutive months, since Wuhan city lifted outbound travel restrictions in the wake of the improvement in the novel coronavirus situation there.
In April, WHDZ accelerated the comprehensive resumption of work and production, and realized industrial output value of 23.96 billion yuan, an increase of 2.6 percent year-on-year.
In May, the industrial economy of the zone continued to accelerate, with the industrial output value of enterprises above a designated size -- those with annual revenue of 20 million yuan or more -- increasing by 0.6 percent month-on-month and 3.6 percent year-on-year.
Officials said Dongfeng Motor Co, Dongfeng Honda, Dongfeng Passenger Vehicle Co and other leading vehicle manufacturers based in the zone have supported most of the city's automobile industry.
As one of the major industrial enterprise in Hubei province, in late April, all three factories of Dongfeng Honda in the WHDZ had resumed work and production and were operating at full capacity.
Officials said their production capacity had returned to more than 3,000 vehicles per day and a new car rolls off the production line every 50 seconds on average.
In May, Dongfeng Honda continued to produce at full capacity, producing 71,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 16.4 percent and the capacity utilization rate was close to 110 percent.
Air-conditioning appliances are another important pillar industry in the WHDZ. Officials said that at present, leading appliance companies such as Gree, Midea and Haier have reached historical peaks in capacity utilization.
Among them, the monthly output of Midea in May was close to 1 million sets, setting a record high. Wuhan Gree's production capacity increased by 20 percent in May, driving 54 core suppliers to resume full production simultaneously.
In addition, some 10 major investment projects are to be settled in the WHDZ. They cover areas such as next-generation automobiles, corporate headquarters, innovation centers, hydrogen energy R & D and environmental protection equipment manufacturing -- with the total investment amounting to 34.56 billion yuan, officials said.
